The effects of temperature and length of cold storage on the quality maintenance of fresh "Gold" kiwifruit were investigated. Physio-chemical properties were analyzed in kiwifruit held at $2^{\circ}C$ and $6^{\circ}C$ temperatures compared to fruit at...
The effects of temperature and length of cold storage on the quality maintenance of fresh "Gold" kiwifruit were investigated. Physio-chemical properties were analyzed in kiwifruit held at $2^{\circ}C$ and $6^{\circ}C$ temperatures compared to fruit at room temperature ($20{\sim}28^{\circ}C$) during 8 weeks of storage. Low temperatures ($2^{\circ}C$ and $6^{\circ}C$) significantly delayed softening and soluble solids content (SSC) accumulation compared to higher temperature ($20{\sim}28^{\circ}C$). Physico-chemical properties of fruits, including weight losses, firmness, SSC, titratable acidity (TA), SSC/TA ratio, and flesh color properties were monitored during storage. Fast firmness loss was detected in fruit stored at higher temperatures compared to low temperature ($2^{\circ}C$). Similar results were observed for acidity according to storage temperature and length of cold storage, whereas SSC increased to the limited values (%Brix) during storage. The soluble solids content (SSC) increased markedly during the first 60 days of storage and remained almost constant thereafter for all treatments. SSC accumulation rates decreased from 5 weeks after storage probably due to differences between initial and ripe kiwifruits, and SSC decreased with each passing week due to natural starch conversion over time. The SSC/acid ratio increased from 18 to 27 until 5 weeks after storage and then slowly declined in all kiwifruit stored at different low temperatures. Sensory evaluation results showed no differences in kiwifruit flesh color stored at two storage temperatures of $2^{\circ}C$ and $6^{\circ}C$.